


Heartbeat

by EnchantedEvil



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Afterlife, Derek and Stiles are Mates, Derek is old, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-04
Updated: 2014-04-04
Packaged: 2018-01-18 03:22:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1413178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnchantedEvil/pseuds/EnchantedEvil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was more than a heartbeat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heartbeat

A thump.

That's all a heartbeat is. A routine, loud thump. Derek knew every medical and magical explanation for a heart and how it worked, every incantation and procedure that could be used on it, even the reasons to have and not have a heart, and the effects it had on a person.

But in reality, it's a thump.

Derek never thought that he could miss a heartbeat, that something so small and insignificant would dwell in his mind for years and years, how his soul and wolf would long and plead for the sound, for the sight, for the touch of his lover again.

He was taken well before his time, long before the sand in the hourglass ran out, instead shattered as the sand ran out faster and faster, until Stiles was laying in his coffin at the ripe old age of twenty nine, leaving behind a mate and a son behind as he departed the world by the same condition that took his mother.

Like mother like son.

Derek was old now. Incredibly old. Their son was well into his fourties, mating a beautiful blond who allowed the Hale pack to grow again, causing it to blossom into a large and powerful pack that would've made any of Dereks predecessors proud.

He misses everyone else of course. Lydia, Scott, Issac, the twins, Boyd and Erica and everyone else all remain in his mind, fond memories of better times when the world was an eternal summer of chaos and joy and they felt like they were going to live forever young, as a strong pack that would take on the world together.

But the world was not as kind as they were.

Derek lived on as they all faded away, one by one until he was sitting on the porch of the Hale house, old and alone, summer quickly turning to a cold winter, a winter without his friends, without his lover by his side. He was no longer the Alpha, gladly giving the role to his son when he could no longer keep up with the betas, when he began to become weak.

The full moon was rising again, he could hear the pack howling, racing through the forest, young and free and without a care in the world apart from having fun.

Derek smiled softly in his chair. It was time. He could feel his wolf howling at the moon for the last time, sound becoming more and more distant as his vision became darker and darker, last beat of his heart fluttering before it came to a stop.

And Derek Hale died.

 

And then there was that thump.

That warm, beautiful thump that he had thought about for decades, the thump that reminded Derek of the summer and the sun and the joy that remained in his mind.

Derek opened his eyes. He was in a flowery forest, sunlight streaming through the trees as the birds chirped and the flowers swayed in the warm breeze.

A hand enveloped his own, giving it a squeeze as Derek turned.

And there was Stiles. Looking like the scrawny seventeen year old the Derek had fallen in love with all those years ago, same goofy grin on his face.

"Hey" Stiles whispered. "I missed you."

And Derek began to cry, and cry, letting the arms of his lover envelop him as he fell to the ground, holding Stiles close as he smelled his scent, felt his body.

Listened to his heartbeat.

"Hey. No need to cry." Whispers Stiles. "The winter is over sweetie. We're young and free again."

Derek looked down. He was indeed young again, the body he had when he first met his mate had returned to him, and he gave a small grin.

Derek wiped away a tear. "Do I get to keep my leather jacket?"

The laugh that Stiles gave warmed Derek from his head to his toe, and he allowed himself to be dragged along by Stiles, to see everyone again, and live the summer that he had so dearly missed.

It was more than a heartbeat.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos always welcome :D


End file.
